The Giants have faced elimination six different times this postseason. Yet they are still standing.

Game 7 of the NLCS wasn’t much of a contest, as the Giants topped the Cardinals 9-0 at AT&T Park in San Francisco this evening to win the National League pennant and advance to the World Series against the Tigers.

The Giants are the seventh team to rally from a 3-1 deficit since the LCS expanded from five games to seven in 1985. Bruce Bochy’s squad have grown accustomed to playing with their backs against the wall this postseason, also rallying back from a 2-0 series deficit to beat the Reds during the NLDS.

The Giants took control of Game 7 early, scoring one run in the bottom of the first, one in the second and five in the third to chase Kyle Lohse and put the game out of reach. They tacked on one more in the seventh when Aubrey Huff grounded into a double play and another in the bottom of the eighth when Brandon Belt homered. Matt Cain clearly didn’t have his best stuff tonight, but he delivered 5 2/3 scoreless innings before Jeremy Affeldt, Santiago Casilla, Javier Lopez and Sergio Romo finished the Cardinals off.

The Giants pounded out 14 hits on the night, including one from each member of the starting lineup. Marco Scutaro went 3-for-4 with a walk and run scored and finished the series 14-for-28 (.500).

The Cardinals were just one win away from their second straight trip to the World Series after Game 4 last Thursday, but nearly everything went south at the same time. In addition to being outscored 20-1 over the final three games of the series, none of their starters (Lance Lynn, Chris Carpenter, Lohse) lasted longer than four innings. They also committed four errors and allowed seven unearned runs. The Cardinals allowed 10 unearned runs during the entire series, setting a new NLCS record.

The Giants will advance to face the Tigers in the World Series, which will begin Wednesday night in San Francisco. In an interesting twist, the Giants have All-Star Game MVP Melky Cabrera to thank for home field advantage.

Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that Oakland Athletics owner John Fisher has reversed course and will continue to pay minor leaguers. Fisher tells Slusser, “I concluded I made a mistake.” He said he is also setting up an assistance fund for furloughed employees.

The A’s decided in late May to stop paying paying minor leaguers as of June 1, which was the earliest date on which any club could do so after an MLB-wide agreement to pay minor leaguers through May 31 expired. In the event, the A’s were the only team to stop paying the $400/week stipends to players before the end of June. Some teams, notable the Royals and Twins, promised to keep the payments up through August 31, which is when the minor league season would’ve ended. The Washington Nationals decided to lop off $100 of the stipends last week but, after a day’s worth of blowback from the media and fans, reversed course themselves.

An @sfchronicle exclusive: A's owner John Fisher reverses course, apologizes: team will pay minor-leaguers; "I concluded I made a mistake," he tells me. He's also setting up an assistance fund for furloughed employees: https://t.co/8HUBkFAaBx)